The exhibition is a continuation of a collaboration between visual artist Æsa Björk and musician Tinna Thorsteinsdóttir.
By mapping brain activity with EEG recordings, Æsa and Tinna set out to interpret the border between an intangible emotional state and the physical manifestation of brain activity. The EEG recordings were transformed into sound waves. The fragile glass shields serve both as canvases depicting the physical movements that took place, as well as soundboards for brain activity triggered by emotional responses and movement. The sound manifests itself as vibrations created by the conductive speakers attached to the glass. By forming a chamber of human proportions the glass shields can be seen as a membrane separating the self from the outside while reflecting an inner reality which often remains invisible.
The first edition of the installation Shield was exhibited for the first time during European Glass Context 2016, at the Bornholm Art Museum in Denmark.